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Wednesday, May 17, 2017

There's Magic In You

I had a very productive weekend last weekend - I started prepping the projects for my June retreat, and my hands are still stained! But I also did some prep for today's blog hop as a guest of Hero Arts. This hop is for their Summer Catalog, which I got to see when I went to Boston for the Collins Show - but I couldn't show them to you so I've been squealing into a pillow until today. I had so much fun, and I couldn't wait to show these things to you - especially this first one. I laughed the whole time I was putting this together.

Like everyone else my age, I was suitably traumatized by JAWS as a child. It, aside from The Wizard of Oz and 101 Dalmations, was one of those movies I remember experiencing sheer terror in. It might have been the first time I screamed uncontrollably in a theater (but not the last). I loved the movie, and its ensuing place in popular culture, especially the soundtrack, which is THE sound of fear and suspense.

In more recent days, the popularity of Shark Week and the fun shark tracking you can follow for some named sharks in Florida is fun too - and I think society and shark research owe a lot to JAWS.

And so while this might be a little sick and twisted, it's also HILARIOUS and awesome, and will resonate with all you JAWS fans out there. I am tickled pink with it! You know, pink like that tint in the water....

To create the background, I just used Daniel Smith Watercolor into a wet wash with two colors to look like there's a light ray highlighting my murderous shark. The shark die is paper layering - it's hard to see here - but his pearly whites are poking out from the card in a delightfully macabre way. This die is perfect in every way!

Then I cut the silhouettes with the same die set in black and added the hilarious sentiment from Killer Messages. I also watercolored the shark - leaving his eyes out until I was done, and then popping them back in.

I love this card so much!

Now, I can show you a kinder, gentler, sea creature in case you're scared. This beautiful color-layering whale card is what I made a while ago for the class at the show. I think that Indigo Ink is perfection for the blue whale. So the card is white cardstock, and on the front of it, I sponged Aegean ink all over the whole card front. Then, using a strip of cardstock, I sponged "rays" of Indigo ink to give the illusion of filtered light. Then I stamped the solid part of the whale image in indigo to make it look like whales that are far away. I stamped two more whales with all the layers and die cut them for the front. I also cut two more from Indigo cardstock to hide the adhesive on the back of the whales which are stuck on the front of the acetate card.

The lower right whale on the acetate conceals the greeting from the same stamp set. The inks I used are Cornflower (from the bundle linked below), Indigo and black.

When I saw the Road Trip stamp set in the catalog, this card instantly popped into my head. I knew I wanted to layer different colors of watercolor for the mountains. To get this look, I stamped the full image on the bottom of the watercolor paper, and masked it with masking paper, stamping partial images to either side so that the pattern looked somewhat random as I moved up the card. Then I watercolored the mountains with my "desert" Daniel Smith palette of my own making, and then the sky. The sentiment is from Mermazing Messages.

SERIOUSLY - how cute is that?? She looks like she's about to tell you a secret. Or maybe stifling a giggle. Whatever she's doing, she's doing it with style, and I love her. Behind her is a fun new background stamp - Scribble - that almost looks like letters, but not quite. Maybe a fun new monster language is contained in there, and that's what she's keeping a secret!

Anyway - I love it all. In a FB group I'm in, every now and then someone will ask the group "what's your favorite stamp?" My answer is always ALL OF THEM. The ones I own, the ones I don't own yet, and the ones that haven't been designed yet. I LOVE THEM ALL.

If you want to see the amazing catalog, you can see it here. And you can get anything from the collection either from Hero Arts or Simon Says Stamp or Ellen Hutson now - all the products go live today.

And as always, you can win some! Leave a comment at each blog on the hop for a chance to win one of THREE $25 shopping sprees from Hero. Be sure and leave your comment by Wednesday 5/24 at 11:59 PM Pacific to be eligible. Next stop after my blog is the sweet & talented Jessica, and the full list is below.

An amazing set of four cards! The sky and mountain card is beautiful fine art! The shark bite is great humor and coloring. The acetate cover of the whale card is very clever and what a cute monster! Thanks for the inspiration.

Great cards! I especially love the shark card. What a unique stamp set. I'm looking forward to seeing what else is in store along the way. There's such great inspiration and as usual, Hero Arts is so creative!

Your "Jaws" card is amazing - and so funny but your "follow your heart" card is downright gorgeous ! LOVE the colors you used ! I couldn't even begin to copy that - it is SO artistic ! Love them all - TFS !

Oh my goodness! You had me rolling! I clicked on the stamp set for your first card and decided the sentiment, "let's have a bite" is pretty hilarious too! Definitely going in my Faves of the weeks if you post it on SCS!!! Hilarious and pretty too!!! I am so glad to find out that I wasn't the only one terrified through Wizard of Oz! I had nightmares of flying monkeys for years!

Hmmm.....You have me thinking on the camper set! I REALLY like those hills. If I changed the colors to blues my husband would be over the moon with a "smokey mountain" look card!

YIKES! Glad I'm not swimming in your sea...though it's beautiful. The sentiment made me giggle uncontrollably. This HA release is so full of fantastic images it's hard to choose. I know my wallet is groaning.

Inspiring and creative work as always, Lydia. :) LOVE your shark card! I have to share this memory with you since you mentioned the "Jaws" movie. I was a teenager when it came out and my dad never went to movies....but "Jaws" he wanted to see. So him, my mom and me went to see it at a late night showing. Both my mom and me were scared to death but he LOVED it! Good memory! ;)

I will never forget seeing JAWS when I was ten. My room was next to our pool, so I heard the water filtering all night & I was positive the shark was going to kill me (how I thought it'd get to my pool, then in my room, well, only a 10 year old mind can work that out). Love your colors, but that shark card is my fav!

I'm glad you no longer have to stifle your excitement into a pillow; you've created an assortment of WOW showcases! I'm especially taken with your shark card; this set has perfect balance of "scary/cool" images to make cards for - and with - my nephew. The whales and the mystical creatures are mighty awesome, too...~carol

.....pink like that tint in the water...........we could so be friends. Your blog is a hoot to read. Love the shark card, but I am also in love with that magical creature. She looks a bit mischievous. Your sense of humor cracks me up and I have now subscribed to your blog, not only for the ideas, but for the laughs!

Lydia, these are amazing..the first Jaws card had us laughing out loud..I am sitting here at Starbucks hopping through the blog...then the next card is so adorable...wow..the rays look like they are streaming through the ocean. Love them!

Not sure if my comment was sent as I got a weird message so I'll try again. If it was sent I'm sorry for the repeat.

All your cards are amazing but I especially love the shark and the whale cards!! The water backgrounds of both of them are beautifully done. The acetate layer on the whale card is an awesome idea and so creative. I love it!!

You have a great sense of humor! That first card IS kind of scary! The second one is so creative with the whale stamped on the acetate hiding the sentiment! The water with the light filtering in is wonderful! Great card!

"Follow your heart" is quite lovely!and the whale card is breathtaking! The monsters are so dang adorable! They remind me of Cat in the Hat characters! Your Jaws card makes me think that you really want to be a faster swimmer than your friend! LOL TFS!

Awesome cards!! I too was traumatized by Jaws as a child. My sister thought it would be hilarious to have me watch it the night before I left for the beach with a friend. I wouldn't get any where near the water until 2 days before we left. LoL!! So your card really cracked me up.Thank you so much for sharing!!

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Hi. I'm Lydia. I'm the Community Manager at Splitcoast by day, an artist, a teacher and an animal lover in every other moment. I do participate in affiliate programs at Stampin' Up! and Blick Art Materials and others, and may receive small compensation when you purchase using my links, at no additional cost to you.

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